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Data and Statistics

The table below presents the mean number of reported physically unhealthy days in the past 30 days by demographic factors, chronic disease conditions, and risk behaviors using the 2009 BRFSS.

The physically unhealthy days question is one of four core health-related quality of life measures that have been monitored by states since 1993 using the BRFSS. The question asks “Now thinking about your physical health, which includes physical illness and injury, for how many days during the past 30 days was your physical health not good?”

Variable

Category

Number of respondents

Mean Number of Days

95% lower * confidence limit

95% upper * confidence limit

Overall

416,149

3.6

3.5

3.7

Sex

Men

158,526

3.2

3.0

3.3

Women

257,623

4.0

3.9

4.1

Age group

18-24

12,556

2.3

2.1

2.5

25-34

36,196

2.4

2.2

2.5

35-44

58,345

2.9

2.7

3.0

45-54

84,344

3.9

3.8

4.1

55-64

92,089

4.8

4.6

5.0

65-74

70,421

4.7

4.6

4.9

75 or older

58,740

6.0

5.8

6.2

Race-ethnicity

White non-Hispanic

332,425

3.5

3.4

3.6

Black non-Hispanic

31,994

3.8

3.6

4.0

Asian

6,904

2.1

1.8

2.4

Pacific Islander

679

3.9

2.3

5.5

American Indian/Alaskan Native

5,791

5.5

5.0

6.1

Other non-Hispanic

9,050

5.0

4.6

5.4

Hispanic

24,975

3.9

3.6

4.1

Hispanic ethnicity

Yes

24,975

3.9

3.6

4.1

No

389,041

3.6

3.5

3.6

Educational level

&lt; High school

37,190

6.0

5.7

6.3

High school graduate

123,741

4.2

4.0

4.3

Some college

112,136

3.7

3.6

3.8

College graduate

141,736

2.3

2.2

2.4

Annual household income level

&lt;$15,000

39,376

7.7

7.4

8.0

$15,000-$24,999

63,145

5.4

5.2

5.6

$25,000-$34,999

43,820

4.1

3.9

4.3

$35,000-$49,999

56,218

3.2

3.0

3.4

$50,000 or more

159,160

2.1

2.0

2.2

Unknown/Refused

54,430

3.8

3.7

4.0

Employment status

Employed

175,190

2.1

2.0

2.2

Self-employed

35,552

2.3

2.1

2.4

Out of work one year or more

9,746

5.2

4.8

5.6

Out of work less than one year

14,319

3.4

3.1

3.7

Homemaker

30,928

3.7

3.5

3.9

Student

6,471

2.3

2.0

2.5

Retired

115,030

5.0

4.9

5.2

Unable to work

27,180

16.1

15.7

16.5

Marital status

Married

235,847

3.2

3.1

3.3

Divorced

56,708

5.6

5.4

5.8

Widowed

57,488

6.1

5.9

6.3

Separated

8,241

6.2

5.7

6.7

Never married

47,178

3.0

2.9

3.2

Unmarried couple

8,937

3.5

3.2

3.9

Body-mass index category

Underweight

6,246

4.9

4.5

5.4

Normal weight

133,753

2.9

2.8

3.0

Overweight

145,681

3.2

3.1

3.3

Obese

111,962

4.9

4.8

5.1

Cigarette smoking status

Current smoker-every day

49,810

5.2

5.0

5.4

Current smoker-some days

17,865

4.4

4.1

4.7

Former smoker

125,496

4.2

4.1

4.3

Never smoked

220,367

2.9

2.8

3.0

Binge drinking

Yes

43,722

2.4

2.3

2.6

No

360,330

3.8

3.7

3.9

Leisure-time physical activity

Yes

303,900

2.6

2.5

2.7

No

111,803

6.6

6.4

6.8

Has health insurance coverage

Yes

371,851

3.5

3.5

3.6

No

43,348

3.9

3.7

4.1

Self-rated health

Good-excellent

337,048

1.9

1.8

2.0

Fair-poor

77,065

12.9

12.7

13.1

Diabetes mellitus

Yes

49,261

8.1

7.9

8.4

No

366,521

3.2

3.1

3.2

High blood pressure

Yes

160,274

5.8

5.7

5.9

No

255,068

2.7

2.6

2.8

* A confidence interval (CI) describes the level of variability in a sample estimate and specifies the range in which the true value of the population that the sample represents is likely to fall. We use the 95% confidence level, which means that this population value falls within 95% of the confidence intervals estimated from samples of this population. When comparing the prevalence estimates of variables by categories, we recommend the use of confidence intervals. If the 95% confidence intervals of these estimates do NOT overlap, these estimates differ statistically significantly from each other at the 0.05 significance level.